Plaza lures multi-talented creative/filmmaker Josh Whiteman from Host to join director roster

Director Josh Whiteman, former agency creative and award-winning filmmaker and screenwriter has joined top Sydney production company Plaza Films.

Whiteman is 34 but has a few lifetimes’ worth of experience after landing his first job at 15 as a radio announcer. He studied TV/film production at COFA; joined Mushroom Pictures in the 1990s; and became a writer/creative at agencies including Publicis London, Ogilvy Sydney and most recently Host, Sydney.

While doing all those jobs, he was always making films and directing. From 2005 – 2009, Whiteman followed iconic Dutch photographer and filmmaker Anton Corbijn around Europe during the filming of ‘Control’, the Ian Curtis biopic. The result was Whiteman’s own award-winning film ‘Shadow Play’.

Last year while at Host, Whiteman co-directed a campaign for the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia with Paul Middleditch, and they also collaborated on the feature screenplay, ‘No Prisoners’ which is currently in development.

“When Josh and I first worked together, I saw a natural storyteller. His work has a depth and sincerity that’s rare amongst Australian directors, and because he’s worked in agencies he’s very switched on to the realities of creating commercial content,” says Middleditch.

Adds Peter Masterton, Plaza’s EP: “Not only is Josh a lovely bloke, but we think he’s a real talent. He’s written screenplays and ads, he’s worked as a producer and script editor, he’s an award-winning filmmaker – and at the end of the day he’s just hungry to make great work. That’s the kind of director we want to work with.”

Says Whiteman: “I love telling evocative stories and I try to bring something epic to even the smallest scripts. I’ve also worked at agencies long enough to know how to protect good ideas, so hopefully that’s a potent combination.”

More than 30 international film festivals have screened ‘Shadow Play’ to date, which also aired on the ABC in January and is now screening on ABC iView.

plazafilms.com.au